I get what Herzog wants Directors to do. It's the same thing Hemingway was implying about writing.
If you have no life lived, then you have no life to write about. First live some life, get some experiences, life skills, and then direct a story about life. Otherwise you won't have much to go on.
But I'd have to ask Werner, "Why don't you just teach the Directors what the other departments do?"
Quentin Tarantino was obsessed with the idea he had to know how to do everything until Terry Gilliam told him he doesn't have to know about Fresnel lenses or how to set up his lights properly. He just needs to hire the right people and tell them what he wants.
But the thing is, the best directors and I'd even say the best filmmakers in general have skill-sets that go beyond just telling "X department guy" what they want.
Sure the vision and ability to explain what you want is a core skill/natural talent to have.
However, having skills in other creative areas is extremely helpful.
Christopher Nolan was a script reader and camera operator, and he focuses heavily on concept, plot structure, and visuals.
Stanley Kubrick was a still photographer, and his films look amazing in terms of camera placement/lens selection/framing.
Ridley Scott was a production designer who studied Graphic Design, and his good movies look very aesthetically pleasing. They look like real places even when they're futuristic, historical, or anachronistic.
John Ford was an actor, stuntman, handyman, and more for his brother who was in Vaudeville and films. He had a very consistent output, and knew how to get the most out of his company.
John Huston was a writer before he was an actor and director, and his films are well rounded in my opinion thanks to such things.
George Lucas taught cinematography to US Navy students and assisted Coppola on The Godfather. I don't need to explain his significance.
Martin Scorsese was an assistant director and editor on a documentary before making Boxcar Bertha for Roger Corman.
Orson Welles was a stage actor who produced and performed with his own repertory. He also did radio before making Citizen Kane.
It's quite obvious that the more well rounded a filmmaker is, the better they know the art form.
the more vigorous they are, the more practical and experienced they are, the better their films and film productions can be.
The hidden art to producing films is knowing how to make them. I know that sounds ridiculous, but knowing what you can buy for your money, knowing how to get the best out of your cast and crew, knowing how to make decisions ahead of time and in the moment are all things that are underwritten in film blogs and books. There's simply no replacement for knowledge gained by doing, and the desire to know more about how to make things. There's no replacement for working with other people who you can call later.
It's like wanting to own a restaurant. You should work in a kitchen before you open one, because you're going to have to know what it takes to get the job done.
There's only a few people like Stephen Spielberg who just seem to transition from making films on 8mm, to making films in school, to making films for 500 bucks, and then making television professionally. But even he conceived of, wrote, and shot most of that early stuff himself.
The old joke is everyone wants to direct. But you gotta do something in the mean time to make money right?
So go to work. But if you have no skills, how are you going to get your foot in the door?
Another way of saying this is, how many youtube videos does Bob have to make before he gets noticed by Hollywood, and gets to tell everyone what to do?
Of course the answer is that to get the job you have to have something to offer that is written on paper, on your diploma, in your portfolio, or in your resume.
Experience, working hard, knowing things. Thats what gives people confidence in you, since all film funding is based on taking a risk. And yes, films are extremely collaborative.
Who wants to work creatively for someone who doesn't have an interest in their own creativity?
Who wants to work with someone they don't get along with?
Who wants to work with someone who doesn't know anything about what they do?
Who wants to work with someone who isn't going to do the job well?
You know why Herzog talks about random shit instead of how to shoot a shot? Because modern directors are overeducated in filmmaking when it's irrelevant for how movies are made now, the skill floor for filmmaking is actually very, very high. Shit that simply couldn't be done when he was learning to make movies is now trivial and cheap and doable with your phone. Ultra high framerate photography? High quality audio? Aerial shots? Achievable with a fucking craigslist post from your editing terminal which is also your camera and it costs you 1 grand and it fits in your hand. Herzog had to steal his first camera and film.
Gonna have to hard disagree on "you can do what a film camera, proper xenon/arc lighting, and optical/visual/special effects" can do properly with a couple bucks and your phone.
Don't be swayed by this "8k Ultra HD 108 MP shot on iphone" memeing done by smartphone companies. The resolution can be there, the color science can be there, but its still a tiny sensor and a set of tiny lenses. High quality audio? At what bitrate? Aerial Shots? That match the resolution/color/etc. of your other shots? Editing terminal is your cameraphone? That's better than an AVID system with a properly calibrated screen on hardware that can actually process the data for you?
It just doesn't work that way I'm afraid, and that's part of why movies cost so much to make if you want them to look, and sound good. You have to hire the right people.
I don't think anyone could make a blockbuster hit on an iphone without it looking compressed and terrible in a movie theater.
Why the fuck is he on twitter when he's at peak fucking brainlet at the age of 40
Why the fuck is he telling people how to make films when he is so bad at making them?
@cardenio "...And the whole claim that film is a far more collaborative process doesn't really hold true when it comes to the most widely acclaimed films."
It absolutely does.
The very act of direction is knowing how to collaborate with others.
How else are you going to get the performance you want from actors for example?
The Director is in charge of vision, the Producer helps make that happen with material, planning, and funding.
Every department adds or changes something to the process.
The entire process is collaborative outside of the script generation.
But auteurs in my opinion, still make the most interesting films because they are artists.